{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=2b1ec6f8-07c9-4118-bd6a-7497573d9532", "Johnson Comments on President's \u2018Fix It\u2019 Speech", "2013-11-14", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "WI", "Ron Johnson", "J000293", "www.ronjohnson.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\u201cPresident Obama acknowledged Thursday that his promise, \u2018If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period,\u2019 which he repeated dozens of times, hasn\u2019t worked out. It \u2018ended up not being accurate,\u2019 he said.\r\n\u201cHe said he understands the frustration of the 4.9 million Americans forced out of health plans they found satisfactory and affordable and forced into Obamacare plans that they do not want. \u2018I'm willing to work with Democrats and Republicans to fix problems as they arise,\u2019 the president said.\r\n\u201cA good place to start would be to support the bill I introduced in the Senate called the \u2018If You Like Your Health Plan, You Can Keep It Act.\u2019 The president said that Obamacare\u2019s grandfather clause was \u2018not sufficient.\u2019 He is right. His administration put such restrictions on that clause that it made it certain that insurers could not keep offering the plans their customers chose. My bill strips those restrictions so the grandfather clause really does let people keep plans if they find them satisfactory.\r\n\u201cIn contrast, the president\u2019s latest idea has a crucial flaw: It is short-term. He proposes letting people keep their plans for one year only. After that, apparently, they\u2019d again be forced onto costlier, less satisfactory Obamacare plans. People don\u2019t need a health-care solution just for the next year. We need to think long-term.\r\n\u201cUnfortunately, the implementation of Obamacare has ground on to the point that millions of plans that already have been cancelled cannot be reinstated. But the freedom of millions of Americans to keep the doctors, treatments and health plans they prefer can still be preserved if Congress acts swiftly and decisively.\u00a0 I plan to introduce another bill called the \u2018Preserve Freedom and Choice in Health Care Act.\u2019 It will attempt to protect liberty and the rights of individuals to make their own health care decisions.\r\n\u201cThe real long-term solution is to repeal Obamacare. Dumping this top-down, Washington-style monstrosity is the only way to save our health care system from permanent damage. Until then, we can at least take steps to stop throwing people off the insurance they have. If the president is willing, my bill is waiting.\u201d\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=2b1ec6f8-07c9-4118-bd6a-7497573d9532"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3919873163104057, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}